journal article
Jan 01, 2023
Fictional Futures: Ethnofiction in Applied Ethnographic Filmmaking
Abstract
Inspired by the films of Jean Rouch, I have been experimenting with fictionalizations in the documentaries I produce within the field of applied visual anthropology. This paper will argue that ethnofictional filmmaking not only provides an alternative to complement more conventional methods of ethnographic filmmaking and research but also changes the dynamics and hierarchies within the filming team and beyond. Using examples of my work for different research and development projects, I will discuss how the participants of film workshops used the ambiguous space between fiction and realist documentary storytelling to negotiate and enhance their position, both within their social worlds and within the arena constituted by the filmmaking. Explicit or implicit references to imagined futures thereby played an important role.
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References
30
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Books and articles
[2]
Blue, James. 1967. Jean Rouch in Conversation with James Blue. Film Comment (4(2-3): 84-86.
[3]
Grimshaw, Anna. 2001. The Ethnographer's Eye: Ways of Seeing in Modern Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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[4]
Gruber, Martin. 2016. Participatory Ethnographic Filmmaking: Transcultural Collaboration in Research and Filmmaking. Visual Ethnography (5(1):15-44.
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Gruber, Martin. 2022. Sharing the Camera. A Guide to Collaborative Ethnographic Filmmaking. Canon Pyon: Sean Kingston Publishing.
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Jørgensen, Anne Mette. 2007. Filmmaking as Ethnographic Dialogues: Rouch's Family of "Scoundrels" in Niger. Visual Anthropology (20(1): 57-73.
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Loizos, Peter. 1993. Innovation in Ethnographic Film: From Innocence to Self-Consciousness, 1955-85. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
[10]
MacDougall, David. 1992. Complicities of Style. In: Film as Ethnography. Peter Ian Crawford and David Turton, eds. Pp. 90-98. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
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MacDougall, David. 2003. Beyond Observational Cinema. In Principles of Visual Anthropology. Paul Hockings, ed. Pp. 115-128. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
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Nichols, Bill. 1993. Getting to Know You…". Knowledge, Power, and the Body. In Theorizing Documentary. Michael Renov, ed. Pp. 174-192. New York & London: Routledge.
[13]
Pröpper, Michael. 2009. Culture and Biodiversity in Central Kavango, Namibia. Berlin: Reimer.
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Rouch, Jean. 2003. Ciné-Ethnography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
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Sjöberg, Johannes. 2008. Ethnofiction: Drama as a Creative Research Practice in Ethnographic Film. Journal of Media Practice (9(3): 229-242.
10.1386/jmpr.9.3.229_1
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Sjöberg, Johannes. 2009. Ethnofiction and Beyond: The Legacy of Projective Improvisation in Ethnographic Filmmaking. http://antoine.chech.free.fr/textes-colloque-JR/Sjoberg.pdf (accessed January 4, 2023).
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Sjöberg, Johannes. 2017. Ethno Science Fiction: Projective Improvisations of Future Scenarios and Environmental Threats in the Everyday Life of British Youth. In: Anthropologies and Futures: Researching Emerging and Uncertain Worlds. Juan Salazar, Sarah Pink, Andrew Irving and Johannes Sjöberg. eds. Pp. 171-188. London and New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
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Sjöberg, Johannes. 2018. An Epistemology of Play: Provocation, Pleasure, Participation and Performance in Ethnographic Fieldwork and Filmmaking. Anthropologica : 60: 403–412.
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Stoller, Paul. 1992. The Cinematic Griot: The Ethnography of Jean Rouch. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[20]
Waite, Louise and Cath Conn. 2011. Creating a Space for Young Women's Voices: Using 'Participatory Video Drama' in Uganda. Gender, Place & Culture (18(1):115-135.
10.1080/0966369x.2011.535297
[21]
Films
[22]
Antónia, Adelina, Martin Gruber, Miguel Sachilulo Sachilulo Hilario, Bino Henriques Job, Fatima Jose and Evaristo Quintas, dirs. 2013. Huchi - Honey. University of Bremen (production). 39 min.
[23]
Gruber, Martin, Meshack Kwamovo, Gomotsegang Marungu, Chungudika Moeze, Rombe Mofundikwa, Keoratile Moruti, Mozumbi Mozumbi and Gongwe Wamana, dirs. 2013. The Secret of Our Environment. Germany: University of Bremen (production). 34 min.
[24]
Gruber, Martin and Raphael Sinkumba, dirs. 2008 Mema Eparu - Water Is Life. gruberfilm (production). 35 min.
[25]
Pröpper, Michael and Martin Gruber, dirs. 2007. Wiza Wetu! - Our . Forest. gruberfilm (production). 53 min.
[26]
Rouch, Jean, dir. 1958. Moi un Noir. Les Films de la Pléiade (production). 73 min.
[27]
Rouch, Jean, dir. 1967. Jaguar. Les Films de la Pléiade (production). 88 min.
[28]
Rouch, Jean and Edgar Morin, dirs. 1961. Chronique d'un Été. Argos Films (production). 90 min.
[29]
Sjöberg, Johannes, dir. . 2007. Transfiction. FaktaFiktion and University of Manchester (production). 58 mins.
[30]
Sjöberg, Johannes, dir. . 2020. Call Me Back. University of Manchester (production). 20 mins.
Metrics
1
Citations
30
References
Details
- Published
- Jan 01, 2023
- Vol/Issue
- 10
Authors
Cite This Article
Martin Gruber (2023). Fictional Futures: Ethnofiction in Applied Ethnographic Filmmaking. Anthrovision, 10. https://doi.org/10.4000/123e8
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